Pollen analysis, NPP analysis, Charcoal analysis, Wood evonomy, Prehistoric agriculture

Tim Kerig/Jutta Lechterbeck (2004) Laminated sediments, human impact, and a multivariate approach: a case study in linking palynology and archaeology (Steisslingen, Southwest Germany). Quaternary International 113 (2004) 19–39.

by tim kerig

Quaternary International 113 (2004) 19–39

Situated in the Alpine Foreland, Lake Steisslingen provides sediments covering the last 16,000 sidereal years. The... more Situated in the Alpine Foreland, Lake Steisslingen provides sediments covering the last 16,000 sidereal years. The exceptional
value as an environmental archive is due to large laminated sections, found in several long cores. Counting of organic varves allowed
the establishment of a detailed varve-based age model. A high-resolution pollen analysis for the period 5457 BC to 813 AD was
carried out and compared with an archaeological mapping of a 5km radius around Lake Steisslingen. The combined interpretation
of the palynological and archaeological evidence facilitates a reconstruction of the settlement history and the evolution of the
landscape over the last eight millenia. Several important aspects of vegetational and settlement history are illuminated: The
mathematical ordination method of correspondence analysis is used to extract the main dimension of explanation from the pollen
data. A single curve is generated and thought to reflect human impact. The validity of this assumed proxy is tested against the
vegetational and archaeological evidence of the micro-scale area since Neolithic times. From the Steisslingen example, we conclude
that human impact is the most important and, in a mathematical sense, continuous factor in vegetational development of those
landscapes, which are settled since prehistoric times.

Tim Kerig (2008) Als Adam grub... Vergleichende Anmerkungen zu landwirtschaftlichen Betriebsgrössen in prähistorischer Zeit.

by tim kerig

Ethnogr.-Archäolog. Zeitschrift 48, 2007 (2008), 375-402.

Morphological trends in the fossil pollen of Decodon and the paleobiogeographic history of the genus

by Fridgeir Grimsson

2012
Fridgeir Grimsson, David K. Ferguson, Reinhard Zetter
International Journal of Plant Sciences

Palm reading: a pilot study to discriminate phytoliths of four Arecaceae (Palmae) taxa

by Marshall Weisler

Prehistoric giant swamp taro (Cyrtosperma chamissonis) from Henderson Island, southeast Polynesia.

by Marshall Weisler

A Late Messinian Palynoflora with a Distinct Taphonomy

by Fridgeir Grimsson

2011
Thomas Denk, Fridgeir Grimsson, Reinhard Zetter, Leifur A Simonarson
Springer
Chapter 9

The Middle Late Miocene Floras - A Window into the Regional Vegetation Surrounding a Large Caldera

by Fridgeir Grimsson

2011
Thomas Denk, Fridgeir Grimsson, Reinhard Zetter, Leifur A Simonarson
Springer
Chapter 7

Économie du bois de feu et sociétés néolithiques: analyses anthracologiques appliquées aux sites d'ambiance humide des lacs de Chalain et de Clairvaux ( …

by Alexa Dufraisse

The Classic Surtarbrandur Floras

by Fridgeir Grimsson

2011
Thomas Denk, Fridgeir Grimsson, Reinhard Zetter, Leifur A Simonarson
Springer
Chapter 5

The Archaic Floras

by Fridgeir Grimsson

2011
Thomas Denk, Fridgeir Grimsson, Reinhard Zetter, Leifur A Simonarson
Springer
Chapter 4

Pollen, fruits, and leaves of Tetracentron (Trochodendraceae) from the Cainozoic of Iceland and western North America and their palaeobiogeographic implications

by Fridgeir Grimsson

2008
Fridgeir Grimsson, Thomas Denk, Reinhard Zetter
Grana

JAOUADI S., LEBRETON V., MULAZZANI S., BOUSSOFFARA R., MANNAI-AYACHI B. 2010. Analyses polliniques en contexte anthropisé : le cas du site holocène SHM-1 (Hergla, Tunisie centrale). In : Peretto C (Eds). Annali dell’Università di Ferrara, Sez. Museologia Scientifica e Naturalistica, 6: 25-32.

by Sahbi Jaouadi

Diverse fossil Onagraceae pollen from a Miocene palynoflora of north-east China: early steps in resolving the phytogeographic history of the family

by Fridgeir Grimsson

2012
Fridgeir Grimsson, Reinhard Zetter, Qin Leng
Plant Systematics and Evolution

Combined LM and SEM study of the Middle Miocene (Sarmatian) palynoflora from the Lavanttal Basin: Part II. Pinophyta (Cupressaceae, Pinaceae and Sciadopityaceae)

by Fridgeir Grimsson

2011
Fridgeir Grimsson, Reinhard Zetter
Grana

Studien zur jüngeren postglazialen Vegetations- und Siedlungsgeschichte im östlichen Schleswig-Holstein (mit einem Beitrag von H. Erlenkeuser)

by Julian Wiethold

Universitätsforschungen zur prähistorischen Archäologie 45. Bonn: Verlag R. Habelt, 1998, 365 p. (= PhD thesis, Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte der Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel 1997)

Evolució de la vegetació al massís del Garraf a partir de l’anàlisi pol·línica de sediments procedents de les basses de Can Grau i Can Planes

by Santiago Riera

Santiago Riera Mora
III Trobada d’Estudiosos del Garraf Monografies, 30

Durant els anys 1996 i 1997, el Parc Natural del Garraf, gestionat per la Diputació de Barcelona, ha estat finançant... more Durant els anys 1996 i 1997, el Parc Natural del Garraf, gestionat per la Diputació de Barcelona, ha estat finançant un projecte de recerca encaminat a determinar i caracteritzar els canvis del paisatge vegetal i la dinàmica dels incendis al massís del Garraf des d’una perspectiva temporal dilatada.
Amb aquests objectius principals, es definiren dues línies de treball: la construcció d’un model de referència d’un mínim de deu anys sobre l’evolució de l’espectre pol·línic amb posterioritat a l’incendi de 1994 que pugui ser contrastat amb les dades de pol·len fòssil obtingudes, i l’anàlisi del contingut de grans de pol·len i d’altres micropartícules (espores, cendres, sutge, etc.) de seqüències sedimentàries adients que facin possible dur a terme la reconstrucció del paisatge vegetal i la seva dinàmica temporal.
En aquesta primera fase del projecte, s’han extret mostres dels sediments continguts en dues basses localitzades al massís del Garraf: la de Can Grau i la de Can Planes. A la primera, foren extrets 75 cm de sediment i a la segona,
50 cm.

Lake responses to historical land use changes in Northern Spain: the contribution of non-pollen palynomophs in a multiproxy study

by Santiago Riera

Riera, S.; López-Sáez, J.A.; Julià, R. (2006)
Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 141: 127-137.

Environmental changes discussed in an earlier work using pollen, sedimentology, ostracods and charcoal proxies were... more Environmental changes discussed in an earlier work using pollen, sedimentology, ostracods and charcoal proxies were evaluated with new non-pollen palynomorph data. The limits of non-pollen palynomorph biozones are consistent with the main environmental changes reported earlier in the Pre-Pyrenean Lake Estanya. The non-pollen palynomorph diagram from Lake Estanya Gran shows that changes in human activity during the last 2000 years are reflected in lake responses. Palaeoecological data from non-pollen palynomorphs have helped to determine the causes of these environmental changes, e.g. the lake use for hemp water-retting and its limnological impacts.
The main change in the non-pollen palynomorph diagram is the expansion of Desmidiaceae, indicating more acid water conditions between 1220 AD and 1760 AD. The onset of Desmidiaceae in 1220 AD may be attributed to the development of farming and probably to the construction of water channels.

Desmidiaceae undergo a considerable decline after 1760 AD, coinciding with the fall in hemp production in the XVIIIth century. Consequently, the lake water recovered the oligotrophic status that had prevailed before 1220 AD.

The perturbation caused by the introduction of hemp retting practices in Lake Estanya led to changes in all the proxies such as sedimentology, non-pollen palynomorphs, pollen and faunal communities.

Keywords: non-pollen palynomorphs; environmental history; Late Holocene; palaeolimnology; hemp retting

Le broyage dans la chaîne de transformation du millet (Panicum miliaceum) : outils, gestes et écofacts

by Bertrand Poissonnier

Co-authored with K. Lunström-Baudais, A.-M. Rachoud-Schneider and D. Baudais
2002, Published  In : Procopiou H. & Treuil R. (dir). Moudre et broyer. I. Méthodes. Actes de la Table-ronde de Clermont-Ferrand, 1995. Paris : Éd. du Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques, p. 181-209.

Two parallel ethnoarchaeological inquiries were undertaken, one in western Nepal and the other in Vendée (western... more Two parallel ethnoarchaeological inquiries were undertaken, one in western Nepal and the other in Vendée (western France), in order to reconstitute the sequence of operations traditionally employed for processing millet (Panicum miliaceum). Our field work underscored not only the common central role played by the mortar/pestle at the dehusking stage but also revealed two major facultative variations which may be employed to increase the efficacy of mortar/pestle pounding. Thermic treatment before pounding may be applied; this can be a simple heating operation or may include the addition of water to the grain during the heating. Technical improvements of the active head of the pestle were sometimes practised in Vendée and are systematically practised in western Nepal.
The effects of these facultative variations were experimentally evaluated in terms of time ad quality of the product. Without either a thermic treatment of the seed before pounding or the use of a reinforced pestle head, the work of dehusking millet is laborious, the loss of seed important and the quality of the product low. Both thermic treatment of grain and the use of metal armed pestle were already known in Roman times. Depending on the position of thermic treatment in the operative sequence, this artificial heating can lengthen the storage capacity of hulled cereals.
Our experimentation brought to light a botanical marker of thermic treatment: pollen enclosed within the husks of grain becomes characteristically crumpled when exposed to artificial heating, whether or not water is added at this stage. By dating the eventual appearence of this thermic marker within the husks of grain from water-logged archaeological sites, it will become possible to expand our knowledge of the history of thermic treatment in the processing of hulled cereals.

Vegetation, climate and fire in the eastern Andes (Bolivia) during the last 18,000 years

by Joseph Williams

Joseph J Williams, William D Gosling, Stephen J Brooks, Angela L Coe and Sheng Xu. 2011, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 312(1-2). pp.115-126.

A c. 18 ka cal BP long sediment record from Laguna Khomer Kocha Upper (4153 m asl), Bolivia, shows that fire regime,... more A c. 18 ka cal BP long sediment record from Laguna Khomer Kocha Upper (4153 m asl), Bolivia, shows that fire regime, governed by climatic variation, has long been a transformative agent in the eastern Andes. Before c. 14.5 ka cal BP, warming and relatively moist conditions free from fire, facilitated the expansion of high Andean Polylepis woodland. Fire onset at c. 14.5.ka cal BP, quickly transformed the local vegetation and the woodlands became restricted to areas protected from fire. A major increase in burning, c. 10.1 − 6.4 ka cal BP removed Polylepis woodland locally and this coincided with a region-wide Holocene dry event (HDE) which caused falling lake levels and allowed fire intensification. A decline in burning at c. 6.4 ka cal BP and an increase in marsh-woodland (Alnus) marked the termination of the HDE and a return to wetter conditions. As well as recording the environmental history of local vegetation dynamics, long-distance pollen transport provides evidence of changes in the Yungas montane forests, highlighting their sensitivity to climate and burning regimes. Simultaneous adjustments in both Andean and Yungas montane taxa suggests that vegetation dynamics in the two environments are linked to a common climatic driver. There is no evidence to indicate that human activity had any impact on the local landscape.

Highlights
► Fossil pollen, charcoal and spores provided an 18 ka year record of climate change. ► Charcoal revealed that fire was a transformative agent in the eastern Andes. ► A major increase in burning occurred in the early Holocene (10.1 ka cal BP). ► Pollen and charcoal indicated a shift to wetter conditions at 6.4 ka cal BP. ► The sensitivity of Polylepis woodland to fire is confirmed.

Keywords: Fossil pollen; Fossil charcoal; Deglaciation; Holocene dry event (HDE); Polylepis woodland; Temperature; Precipitation

Linking Past and Present: A preliminary paleoethnobotanical study of Maya nutritional and medicinal plant use and sustainable cultivation in the Southern Maya …

by Chad Yost